Economic development has been a top priority for Alabama Governor Kay Ivey since she took office in 2017. During her tenure as governor, growth projects announced in Alabama have involved new investments totaling nearly $50 billion and over 87,000 job commitments.
In 2023, Ivey signed a series of economic growth bills into law that form the core of what she calls “The Game Plan” – a strategy designed to “secure Alabama’s economic future, strengthen the state’s competitiveness for job-creating projects that add economic vitality to families and communities.”
According to the Governor, The Plan, “will give Alabama’s team the tools needed to extend our winning record in economic development and help us unleash a new wave of growth and innovation across the state. This is going to benefit every corner of Alabama, from our rural areas to our big cities.”
Comprised of Four Plays, the Plan renews and extends the lifespan of the states’ exiting jobs and economic growth programs for shovel-ready sites; supercharges growth in Alabama’s technology innovation economy and supports underrepresented businesses and enterprises in rural areas; amends the Alabama Jobs Act to require the Alabama Department of Commerce to publish certain incentivized project information on its web site.
Another critical Play was the creation of the Site Evaluation and Economic Development Strategy Act (SEEDS) which allows the State Industrial Development Authority to accelerate the development of industry-ready sites across the state.
In February, the Governor announced that the Alabama State Industrial Development Authority (SIDA) had approved more than $30 million in state grants under the new SEEDS program to “target the urgent need for quality industrial sites in Alabama at a time when other states are spending heavily to expand their site programs.”
“By enabling proactive site improvements that will minimize risk to future investment projects, these SEEDS Act grants will directly improve Alabama’s ability to compete for economic development projects on a national scale,” says Cedric Colbert, senior consultant at location investment advisor GLS.
Earlier in her career, Governor Ivey served as Assistant Director of the Alabama Development Office. “She knows how important economic development is to the state’s overall health,” says Dale Greer, executive director of the Cullman (County) Economic Development Agency.
The County has, over the past year, attracted 28 economic development expansion projects – more than any other county in the state.
“That puts us ahead of some great metro areas,” says Dale Greer, executive director of the Cullman Economic Development Agency, citing Alabama Department of Commerce figures showing the county attracted $1.35 billion in capital investment between 2012 and 2022 with $489 million in 2023 alone.
Most recently Cullman was selected to serve as the headquarters for the new Alabama Fiber Network (AFN).
Unveiled in July, the AFN is a comprehensive middle-mile Internet network to bridge the digital divide in the state. Stretching more than 5,000 miles to link 67 counties, the network is a collaborative effort of several regional energy companies and Internet providers with the goal is to deliver high-speed connectivity to every corner of the state “in support of the crucial industries that depend on reliable internet for remote learning, telehealth services, and economic development.
“When COVID shut down everything, we realized how poor our interconnectivity was in the state. The kids we sent home couldn’t learn at home, says Dale Greer. “They didn’t have the ability to get on the Internet and do things. Within three years, we’re told, Alabama will be the most fiber-connected state in America.”
Located midway between Birmingham and Huntsville, the Cullman County’s location gives businesses there access to not only half the population of Alabama, but major manufacturing and distribution centers throughout the U.S. Midwest and South, as well, via an extensive interstate highway network and the Class 1 CSX railroad.
According to Greer, Cullman’s attraction as a location for a company to set up shop and expand its horizons has reached far and wide. Some examples:
- Zero RPM, based in the City of Cullman, develops anti-idling technology, and advanced energy storage and hybrid solutions that convert conventional vehicles to hybrid operation.
- Germany-based REHAU Automotive maintains a $4 million R&D center at its manufacturing facility in Cullman, where it produces fully assembled bumper systems, rear spoilers, rocker panels, and wheel arch liners for the fully electric Mercedes EQS SUVs produced at the Mercedes manufacturing facility in Vance, Alabama.
- Topre America, a Japan-based company, invested $132 million in its Cullman plant, where it manufactures entire body frames for Honda, Nissan, and Toyota plants in the U.S., as well as other automotive products such as apparel trimmings, air conditioning and electronic equipment, and other related products that are sold around the world.
General Dynamics Mission Systems is one of the County’s prime employers designing and manufacturing custom precision metal optical components and optical assemblies for commercial, defense and space-based applications such as the Mars Rover, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft there.
The company’s activities are part of a surge in one of Alabama’s most vibrant industry sectors – aerospace, which supports more than 45,000 jobs and generates $6 billion-plus in economic activity annually, according to the Aerospace Industries Association.
The County’s location gives the company ready access to nearby Huntsville, Alabama. Known as Rocket City, Huntsville is the hub of the nation’s aerospace industry.
Huntsville continues to make game-changing contributions to space exploration, decades after the iconic Saturn V moon rocket which blasted a generation of astronauts into space was developed there. The city also serves as the home of the Marshall Space Flight Center, a central player in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon and pave the way for future missions to Mars utilizing the technical expertise of many companies across the U.S. including the 106 Alabama firms that are contributing to the project.
Numerous other aerospace companies call Alabama home including Lockheed Martin, which has a “digital factory” in Courtland dedicated to developing hypersonic technologies; GE Aerospace which employs additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, at its Auburn plant to manufacture aircraft engine parts; and Airbus, which recently expanded its Mobile facility operations with start of construction on a second final assembly line for its popular A320-series of commercial aircraft. The project is expected to be completed by mid-2025.
Airbus has also invested $5 million toward creating an apprenticeship/training program to benefit Mobile-based students or adults. The program is a joint project of Airbus, the Mobile County Commission and the Mobile Chamber of Commerce.
Elsewhere in the state, Kansas-based Sunbelt Solomon Services, one of the world’s largest providers of commercial and industrial electrical distribution equipment, is opening a facility to repair and recycle electrical transformers in Coffee County in southeast Alabama. At its site in the community of Elba, the company is investing over $5 million and creating 50 jobs initially, with plans for more as operations grow.
Jesse Quillen, executive director of the Wiregrass Economic Development Corp., said Sunbelt Solomon’s investment project will have a “major impact” on the community of 4,000 residents.
Wiregrass’ ED efforts cover Coffee and Geneva counties, homes, respectively to the Yancey Parker Industrial Park and the Enterprise Business Incubator, and the 90-acre Geneva County Industrial Park.
“The new jobs, new capital investment, and new energy provided by Sunbelt Solomon are all incredibly important and attractive for Elba citizens,” he said when the project was announced.
In addition to its plans for the Elba facility, Sunbelt Solomon recently acquired Holland Industrial Services in Bay Minette, Alabama. The company specializes in preventative maintenance, testing, and the sales and repair of industrial and commercial electrical distribution equipment.
“We’re doubling down in the state of Alabama right now,” Sunbelt Solomon CEO Gus Cedeño said. “These two substantial investments in Alabama we trust are clear signs to our customer service commitment in the Southeast for our utility, renewable, oil and gas, commercial, and industrial customers.”
Tuscaloosa County, located in northwestern Alabama, has become a hotbed of development over the past several years.
The spark for Tuscaloosa county’s growth surge over the past few years was kindled 30 years ago when Mercedes-Benz took a chance on Tuscaloosa and brought an international marquee brand and industry to the state, according to Justice Smyth, executive director of the Tuscaloosa County Economic Development.
“That really opened up a world of possibilities for Alabama and Tuscaloosa specifically,” he says. “Since that time, they’ve grown by many thousands of employees, and we have subsequently developed some first-class workforce development and education programs that help sustain industry. It’s important for us as a community and those in the workforce development profession and in other academia that we be responsive to the needs of industry.”
Workforce training is a key factor in Alabama’s continuing efforts to attract innovative businesses that demand a highly trained, skilled workforce that’s ready to deploy.
“We also have high school career tech programs that are equivalent to those anywhere in the country or exceeds any of those anywhere in the country.”
In a major step toward developing a skilled, technically-proficient workforce, the Alabama Industrial Training Department (AITD), Alabama’s primary workforce development agency, last November announced that it would invest $30 million into the development of a workforce training center that will focus on electric vehicles and emerging technologies to fully position the state’s burgeoning auto industry for the next chapter of its growth.
The 40,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility, is expected to open in late 2025, on the campus of the Alabama Robotics Technology Park, a unique $73 million center operated by AIDT that helps companies train workers on advanced R&D and manufacturing technologies.
“Alabama’s status is really growing in the automotive industry,” says Ed Castile, Deputy Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “Workforce will be a key component as we try to keep up with and even get ahead of what’s going on in the industry. Everything we can come up that supports the development of our workforce is a step forward.”
Several years ago, the City of Gadsden and the County of Etowah merged their economic development efforts to form the Gadsden-Etowah Industrial Development Authority.
“We work with Gadsden State Community College, which has just been awarded a new 50,000 and finished and opened a new 50,000 square foot advanced manufacturing facility for training workers in the advanced manufacturing area,” says David Hooks, executive director of the Gadsden-Etowah County Industrial Development Authority. “We also have high school career tech programs that are equivalent to those anywhere in the country or exceeds any of those anywhere in the country.”
Those programs “come under the AITD and the Alabama Training Network. They work very closely together and that’s key here in Etowah County as all those groups work together so that we have a linear progression of people going through the system and training for very specific job skills.”
The City of Birmingham, home to the University of Alabama, one of the nation’s premiere research schools, places a premium on attracting high-tech, innovative industries by training the next generation of skilled workers.
“We’re working to establish a vibrant workforce, whether it’s through our Birmingham Promise, which provides apprenticeships to high schoolers, that underwrites their collegiate education if they’re in state schools like Alabama State and Alabama A&M,” says Birmingham’s Chief Economic Development Officer, Cornell Wesley.
The City’s Innovation Depot was founded several years ago to incubate and accelerate tech and bioscience-focused, high growth businesses. Currently, more than 300-plus microenterprises lean heavily into innovation and tech space, helping to create what Wesley calls “an ecosystem that grows across the board, bringing everyone involved into the picture.”
Overall, Alabama “can be proud of our solid track record in economic development, but it’s critically important for us to be prepared for what the future brings in order to capitalize on the fast-paced changes being driven by technology,” says Governor Ivey.
“Our new strategic plan will keep us competitive for the kind of game-changing corporate growth projects that invigorate communities and families. We must have an economic development strategy that prepares us for the 2030s today.”
“We’re taking bold steps to raise Alabama’s economy to the next level so that our citizens can take advantage of life-changing career opportunities, and our state can reach new heights of prosperity,” says Governor Ivey. “The future is bringing dynamic changes, and Alabama is going to be a trailblazer.”
Bio: Michael D. White is a published author with four non-fiction books and well more than 1,700 by-lined articles on international transportation and trade to his credit.
During his 35 year career as a journalist, White has served in positions from contributor and reporter to managing editor for a number of publications including Global Trade Magazine, the Los Angeles Daily Commercial News, Pacific Shipper, the Los Angeles Business Journal, International Business Magazine, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Los Angeles Daily News, Pacific Traffic Magazine, and World Trade Magazine.
He has also served as editor of the CalTrade Report and Pacific Coast Trade websites, North America Public and Media Relations Manager for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and as a consultant to Pace University’s World Trade Institute and the Austrian Trade Commission.
A veteran of the United States Coast Guard, White has traveled in both Japan and China, and earned a degree in journalism from California State University and a Certificate in International Business from the Japanese Ministry of Trade & Industry’s International Institute for Studies & Training in Tokyo.
